So fragile
by Nithela
Summary: Mikaela's having her girl week, and the autobot leader encounters one of the more common problems for earthlings.


**So fragile**

Mikaela twisted and turned in place on the firm mattress she was laying on. She should be sleeping at this hour but the damn period just came and with it, the hell that identified itself as a clenching pain in her abdomen and lower back. She had brought protection just in case it'd come tonight, but _of course_ she had to forget the painkillers at home.

She rolled over to lie on her other side and her gaze wandered over the by humans abandoned hangar in the middle of nowhere, where the Autobots was residing in the nights. The gigantic, unmoving forms of Ratchet, Ironhide, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee could barely be seen in the darkness; they were lying directly on the floor, not seeming to really care about making themselves more comfortable. They were all in deep stasis and looked dead, since none of them used to neither move in their sleep nor breathe, unlike humans. It felt like being on a graveyard for statues.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another clench and she barely stifled a groan; why the _heck_ did she have to forget the painkillers?

The form lying closest to her shifted a little and she put a piece of the cover over her mouth. She didn't want to wake anyone.

Optimus didn't continue moving and seemed to have gone into stasis once more, but she barely had the time to relax when the pain intensified and she began to feel nauseous. She assumed that it was false alarm, but got out of her provisory bed, slipped on her sneakers and headed for the bathroom, just in case.

Her silken pajama pants and cozy, worn-out t-shirt gave little protection against the chilly air outside, but she didn't want to go digging in her bag for a jacket and risk waking Sam, who used to roll off his mattress and end up on it. The small building across the field of asphalt had a lamp on in the window so the humans could find their way in situations like this, but the rest of the construction was abandoned. She had no idea what it was for, but there was a small kitchen there with an equally small dining table. Sam had plugged in the fridge and stuffed it with food and she had cleaned the bathroom, fighting the filth that had settled there and carried out the dead rat she had found in the shower cubicle. She remembered the awful smell that had lingered there for days, and none of them went in there before the room had been, on Ratchet's orders, thoroughly disinfected.

She hugged herself and tried to ignore the uneasiness she felt. Someone twisted a white-hot knife in her abdomen and she moaned in pain, her features contorting into a tormented grimace and she was not really aware of sinking down on the asphalt. Another wave of nausea came and went, came again and finally, slowly faded away, though she kept feeling like she was going to faint. Her knees were scraping on the rough ground and the light clothing lost the little warmth it had maintained as the wind increased. She looked back and forth between the hangar and the smaller building; she was right between them and didn't know which one she would try to get to. In front of her was a bathroom, but on the other hand, behind her, a bed and… no. She would get through this alone.

Tears of frustration stung in her eyes, but she blinked them away furiously - for God's sake, she had fought Decepticons! Why was it so hard to ignore a small thing like this? She didn't know exactly when it happened but when she wiped her face, her cheeks were wet despite her efforts to hold it back. She was so tired of _everything_ right now and wished that she never had woken up.

The hisses of hydraulics and clicking sounds of metal moving in perfect coordination was heard behind her, and she felt heavy footsteps resonate through the ground. She sat up properly and finished removing the evidence of her crying.

"Mikaela," said a very familiar, deep voice. Great… Optimus Prime, coming to her rescue. Or not.

She sniffed one last time and looked up as the towering Autobot leader walked around her and surveyed her with blue optics. She was going to greet him, say something, anything to explain the situation, but there was another clench in her abdomen. She could barely keep her breathing steady and unlabored. Though she kept her head up and didn't do anything to show him that she was in pain. She didn't want to be pitied by him, or having him worried about her – there was nothing to do anyway. She rose on rather shaky legs, finding her balance and brushing dirt off the silken pants.

"It's nothing." She said, clearing her throat and crossing her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to get a bit warmer. Her hair kept blowing in front of her face; trying to get it out of the way gave her a reason not to look at Optimus, who according to his silence didn't seem to believe her. The pain grew steadily; she tensed in the chilly wind and it would lead to no good. She wasn't sure that she could stay on her feet for too long.

"Hmm," came from thirty feet up.

"Really, I'm alright." She lied and turned on the spot to head back towards the hangar. She didn't get far, however – a particularly painful throb got her straight back to the ground before she had taken three steps.

"_Mikaela!_ You're ill!" Optimus cried out, and she sensed his presence as he bent down over her, his enormous hands hovering hesitantly in the air around her; in the corner of her vision, she could see blue-painted fingers twitching in anxiety; he had no idea what to do.

"It's… nh… nothing." She said with a strained voice, hugging her stomach where she kneeled, facing the ground and feeling the tears return with full force. If… just maybe, she could just ask him to help her get back to the hangar…

"Shall I call for Ratchet?" He asked, still crouching over her small form. "I'm sure he'll know what-"

"No." Mikaela interrupted him. "No, it's not like that. This is normal… sort of."

She whimpered in new pain and Optimus scooped her up in his hands and held her against his chest, like a human would hold a small pet. He could feel her tremble and tense in his hands and it resonated right into his spark. What could make the strong, stubborn girl break like this? He instinctively began soothing her with nonsensical phrases that he used with younglings, switching back to Cybertronian. Mikaela could hear nothing but strange sounds that a human couldn't dream of imitating, but the tone carried the message instead of what words he used - she was taken care of.

She felt warmth radiate from the metal surrounding her, the gentle though unyielding support he gave her back, and the faint crackle of his spark could be heard through the layers of armor. She gave up the "Alone is strong" and relaxed against him, too tired to protest anyway. And she felt safe in his hands; the instinctual awkwardness at being held and comforted by a giant mech melted away in an instant as his thumb moved over her back in a careful stroke.

"I don't see how this could be normal." He said lowly, this remembering to use English. Mikaela sensed a lingering undertone of worry in his voice.

"Menstrual pain." She explained bluntly; she wasn't sure that he would get vague metaphors anyway. A light whirr appeared for a moment or two, and Optimus' movements stopped as he scanned the internet with the speed of three hundred thousand terabytes per second.

"I see." He said as realization dawned.

She was expecting embarrassment, a faint fake cough and a sudden need to change the subject, but she hadn't counted with the fact that though he clearly was a man, he was no human and didn't feel any awkwardness in the subject whatsoever. So she was rather shocked when he asked:

"What can I do?"

Mikaela stared up at him and her eyes met his blue optics; he didn't waver for a moment and waited patiently for her to answer as if he was expecting her opinion about the weather.

"Well, um," she said before the pain reminded her of its existence; she hid her face in his chest plate and grimaced, hugging her stomach as she curled into a tight ball and grinding her teeth. To her surprise, she was being lifted away from her shelter and found herself sitting in his palm. She looked up at Optimus again in puzzlement, and he gave her – not exactly a smile, but it was still reassuring.

"Please lie down."

She felt a wave of embarrassment but decided to do as she was told as he merely blinked at her.

"Uh, okay…"

Mikaela slowly sank down to her back, feeling his fingers adjust so no joint would catch her skin or hair, and then he put his free hand across her body so it covered her all the way from her feet to her stomach. The warmth radiating from him seemed to increase as he held it there, and it sunk into her flesh as if she had been dipped into a tub filled with warm water.

She was on the verge of blushing; even though it wasn't like that at all, it felt very intimate. He seemed to know exactly how much pressure that was needed and where to apply it. She had a feeling that his little studying session had let him know more about her body than even she did, and that was just _odd_. Though she knew that he was caring if he thought that it was appropriate to show it, this was on a whole other plane. He was not hesitant to be close even though they weren't the same race or… anything! Plus, people on earth didn't just, like, go picking each other up. There were unwritten laws about private space and physical contact. Maybe this was how they handled things back on Cyrbertron. Maybe he didn't know anything else than being this direct. Or maybe he didn't give a damn about earth rules. Either way; what he did felt wonderful and the pain began subsiding. She had meant to say thank you, but the wonderful feeling of easing tension pulled her back into the deep sleep that had been interrupted so briskly before, and the last thing she saw was the outline of his bulky frame and the clear, black sky.

Optimus looked down at the small form lying between his palms. She had gone into recharge; her heart was beating in a steady, calm rhythm and her body had relaxed. He studied her face for a moment, not caring about his sensors registering movement in the hangar. She was such a fragile being, but mentally stronger than almost any other individual of any race he had encountered before. She had fought bravely against Decepticons and, from what he heard from Sam, stood up for herself in every situation. She was stubborn beyond belief – not that it always was a good thing. In situations like this, she should have woken Ratchet, or anyone, really… A human wasn't supposed to be in pain like that, especially not when it could be helped with simple things like warmth. He chuckled lowly – sometimes Mikaela reminded him of himself. Maybe that was why he had woken up from his recharge only moments before she left her bed; he had a feeling that she was unwell and he couldn't relax until he had checked that she was okay.

Speaking of…

_"Where are you?"_

Ratchet's voice sounded a bit worried as he sent the message to Optimus, but the Autobot's reply was calm and reassuring as always.

_"Right outside."_He answered in Cybertronian; translating Wi-Fi-messages was unnecessary, and earth languages _were_ a bit short of words.

_"Is Mikaela with you?"_

He looked down at the unconscious girl in his hands and smiled warmly.

_"I have her right here, Ratchet. She didn't feel too good__ but she's okay now."_

There was a questioning silence from the medic and Optimus sent the data to him as an explanation. It took a minute, and when Ratchet answered, he sounded both amused and slightly annoyed.

_"You're supposed to _ask_ before you do things like that.__ And she is Sam's human. It's inappr__opriate to have close contact with__ someone else's female. __"_

_"She didn't__ complain, and those rules are old-fashioned. You know it wasn't like that.__"_

_"You're not going to have Cybertron back."_

_"And you're not going to tell Sam about this."_

Ratchet's irritation was now very clear as the messaging continued.

_"I know you're__ very__ tactile and all, but no more touchy-feely without getting__ clear__ permission from the human in question__ first, ok?"_

_"'Touchy-feely'? You've spent too much__ time with Sam__."_

_"And _what_ are you two__ talking about?"_

_"__Ironhide__!!" _Both Optimus and Ratchet bellowed digitally, and the weapons specialist sent a wave of confusion over the wireless line.

_"Just get in here." _The medic finished grumpily before breaking the connection. Optimus did as he was told and went back to the hanger, sneaking in (yeah, he _could_ do such a thing, actually!) and gently laying Mikaela on her mattress. He could see Ironhide's optics shine brightly in the corner of his vision, but ignored it and lay down on the floor again, watching her roll to her side in her sleep and clutch the cover, mumbling something incoherent. He couldn't help but keep smiling.

So fragile.


End file.
